White Hibiscus
by LeafyxThiefy
Summary: Ace is mad at Law, and Law can't figure out why the younger raven has been mad at him for this long. Law is as determined to placate Ace as the younger is to stay mad at him. Modern AU, Law x Ace, some crack and mild language.


**I've mentioned how much I'm into AceLaw right? Right! So it should be of no surprise to anyone that there's another one shot for them here.**

 **Beta'd by Emygrl99**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to One Piece, or any other mentioned/referenced material. Enjoy!~**

* * *

A week.

It has been an entire week and Law has yet to get even a small smile out of the freckled youth. Ace has spent all of his time lately within their apartment pouting, sulking, and glaring at Law with such a hurt and betrayed expression. The thing was, Law had no idea what had brought on this sudden mood change, so he had no idea what he should even try to apologize for. Law had tried over and over to decipher the other raven's train of thought, but had been unable to get to the root of the issue, and of fucking course he couldn't count on Ace offering up any information on his offence. Thus, Law was left wondering what in the world he could have done to earn such a bitter look from the younger male.

And to make the matters worse, it seemed that this sudden mood was applied solely to Law, because Ace continued to smile around other people, he was still a generally happy guy, just with _everybody_ else except for Law. That was the main reason that Law himself was getting miffed. If Luffy was over, he got the brightest smile in the world, if Marco called, he got a smile and a laugh, not necessarily in that order but they were given. Sabo, no question about it, he got tons of those sunny smiles, as did Koala, Thatch, Izo, Haruta, the list went on.

Even motherfucking Eustass Kid got a smile _five_ days ago, not that Law was counting. Law was done with this after day one, and he'd sworn to himself that he would not be caught up in whatever childish game Ace was leading.

And with that resolution in mind, Law had decided that he would let the younger man pout and sulk all he wanted, he would come around, Law was certain of that. And once he did, Law would get a nice sunny smile and everything would go back to normal.

That had been six days ago… Law was pretty sure he was going through withdrawal after day one.

* * *

"Ace-ya, will you still not tell me?" Law asked as soon as he stepped into the kitchen, the younger raven glowering into his coffee. Which Law noticed was being drunk black.

No response was given, so Law was forced to say something else. "You never drink your coffee black, Ace-ya."

"Why do you care what I drink, Trafalgar?" Ace snapped and made to drink the coffee once again, his face contorting as he neared the cup to his lips. Law arched a curious brow as he saw this playing out, a smirk threatening to break the surface of his seemingly calm facade. Ace wouldn't do it, Law knew he wouldn't.

Taking a breath, Ace pulled his cup away slightly before looking over to Law and catching his eye, apparently whatever he saw in there steeled his resolve, and he downed the drink in one go. "Oh fuck that's so bitter and _disgusting_!" Ace whined, placing the cup down more firmly than what was needed.

"Then why drink it black?" Law asked with the smallest hint of amusement in his voice as he too poured himself a mug.

"Because I wanted to see if that's what made you so bitter and mean." Ace pouted, making Law turn in his direction, brow raised. "We're also out of creamer and sugar," Ace mumbled, resigned to state the truth.

"Well we wouldn't be out of it so quickly if you'd just learn to tell your little brother to eat at his own house where he belongs." Law retorted and drank his own cup, perfectly content with it being unsweetened and void of creamer.

His comment, however, made the younger man narrow his eyes. "Luffy is allowed to come and go as he chooses, where else is he supposed to get a quality meal if not with his best older brother?"

"At home." Law deadpanned and took another sip. "You two will eat me out of house and home one day, I hope you realize that."

"Please, you make enough money to feed three Lus." Law saw a twitch of a smile there, but it seemed that Ace felt it too and proceeded to sulk again.

 _Almost had him there,_ Law thought to himself and sighed internally. It was about time they made up, he was tired of irritating a sulking Ace, it was much more fun teasing a happy one.

"Are you working today, Ace-ya?" Law asked then.

"I wouldn't be drinking coffee if I wasn't. I need to be awake to work, you know." the reply came curtly and rather cold for Law's liking.

"I don't remember that ever being a ritual, Ace-ya, quit making everything I say sound like I'm picking a fight with you."

Ace's eyebrow twitched, "Then quit saying things!"

"I'm just supposed to stop talking to you then? What is this even about Ace-ya?" Law said, now exasperated. He had been waiting patiently for Ace to tell him what went wrong, they were fine last week, but then everything went down the gutter and Law still had no idea why.

"You know damn well what you did!" Ace cried and slammed his hands on the table. "You- I can't even believe that _you_ of all people would do that to me! I can expect it from Marco, Thatch, Sabo, Luffy, even my own mom! But with you? I thought we had an understanding, Law! I thought–I thought you loved me." Ace finished, crestfallen and throwing Law through a loop.

What could Ace's mother possibly get away with that Law couldn't? What had been his freaking offence?

"What makes you think I don't love you?" he asked then, brows furrowed.

"Trafalgar D. Water Law, you know what you did! And until you properly apologize, I can't forgive you." Ace huffed and stood abruptly from the table and left the house.

* * *

"He used your _full_ name?" Cora asked, a low whistling resounding over the phone. "Law what did you do to him to make him that angry? Bellemere never called you by your full name even after that one time you brought in that dead cat to dissect. In fact, even Nami never brought in your full name to any of her… more livid lectures. You would think she would after the stunt you pulled during her fifteenth birthday, honestly Law, such a thing might have been marginally acceptable during Halloween, but on her birthday?"

Law chuckled, "That was the closest anyone got, she added the "D" in there if I remember correctly, but how was I supposed to know she was terrified of spiders? I was breeding tarantulas at the best time of the season and then Luffy just _had_ to break their holding habitat."

The man on the other side laughed nervously, "Law you were told of her...dislike of spiders the first week, in fact–" whatever counter argument Cora was going to make was interrupted by a high pitched yelp from the other end which earned a quirked brow from Law. "You okay? Fell from the couch again?"

It took Cora a moment to answer him. "No, I ah… ironically enough, there was a spider on the table." Law could feel the blonde shivering from his end.

Smiling fondly, Law took a sip of his coffee. "Ask Sanji to stomp it for you, problem solved."

"I would, but he's already out, he's going to cheer Zoro on at a tournament down at the dojo."

"Wait, the tournament was today?" Law asked incredulously and glanced at his calendar. There in plain sight, the date for the tournament stared mockingly back at him.

"Last I heard yes, Law, are you okay?" Concern was now on the other end of the phone as the blonde was no doubt furrowing his brow at the small device.

Law sighed and ran a hand through his bed mussed hair. "I was supposed to go to that event with Ace, but it seems he would rather attend without me… Cora-san, do you think that he no–"

"Stop that train of thought right this second Trafalgar Law, right now." the blonde said in a much more stern voice than Law was used to, it was a voice of authority that he usually reserved for his job as a Sergeant at the local police department. "Don't do that to yourself Law. The kid loves you, he's just extremely upset by something you did. He wants space, not separation. Now listen to me Law."

There was no stopping it now. Law just knew that Cora was going to give him a plan on how to win his way back into Ace's good graces.

"I'm not sure that's going to work, Cora-san." after he had been debriefed on the plan.

"Trust me Law, it's a soundproof and a sure fire way to win Ace over," the blonde assured him and Law just knew that Cora was giving him his widest grin.

"If you say so, Cora-san." Doubt still laced Law's voice as he got his house keys and looked them over. "You're _positive_ this will work?"

"Law!" the blonde gasped on the other end. "I'm hurt that you have so little faith in me, why do you think they call me Corazon? That title is only reserved for the man who knows the way of the heart as well as the back of his hand."

"Cora-san, half the time you don't even know when your hand catches fire. And come to think of it I actually don't know why they do call you that, care to elaborate?"

Cora laughed, "It was because I was quite the heartbreaker in my youth." Cora gave a whimsical sigh. "The ladies just couldn't tame me."

Law's mouth twitched. He tried, he honestly tried to keep the laughter that exploded out of him at bay. Sadly it filled every corner of the empty apartment and traveled to the blonde's end where it reached his ears and immediate space around him, loud enough that Bellemere lifted an eyebrow, completely unaware of what the blonde had been saying prior to her walking by.

"Cora.." Law had to take a breath controlling his laughter as the man on the other end gave fruitless sniffles."I'm sorry Cora-san, really I am, but _you_ an untamed heartbreaker? I love you Cora-san, but you're a mess when you talk to women, I heard that it took a few months for you to finally stop blushing at every glance Bellemere sent your way in the beginning of your relationships, so you can see why the idea sounds silly."

"Why couldn't you just roll with it and let me keep my pride?" the blonde sniffled again, no doubt hanging his head in embarrassment.

"Fuffuffuffuff, Roci, are you trying to pass yourself off as a teenage heart throb again?" a familiar voice interjected the phone call and had the surgeon wondering just how exactly had the other man intercepted the private call.

"Doffy~" the younger of the two brothers whined, "Not you too!"

"How'd you get on the line anyway?" Law cut in before Doflamingo could antagonize the weeping blonde further.

"That's for me to know and for you to not know, Lawsy. Quite a problem you have there, might I suggest a different method than that of my brother's?"

"I think I'm goo–"

"Nonsense! Now listen up, you've been too soft on the kid, Law. What you need to do is take him to a place that will offer him no escape, go to the tournament or whatever event you said earlier and lure him out away from any prying eyes. Once you have gotten him all alone, this what you do–are you listening to me Law?"

"...Unfortunately, though I'm starting to won–" again, he was cut off by the eccentric blonde on the third line.

"Great, so once you have him alone, I would normally say knock him out with oh I dunno, a steel bat or something? But considering that you care about him, how about something much less threatening, like chloroform? That works just as well and gets the job done."

"I am not going to drug my boyfriend!" Law was appalled he even had to say this, but then again, with his uncle one never knew what would need to be said to that man.

"Law, be a dear and stop interrupting me, it's very annoying. Now as I was saying, once you've subdued the boy, bind and blindfold him and place him in the back seat, you do have tinted windows right? No need to get involved with the lot Roci likes to parade around with after all–ah and remember to buckle him in, safety first and all that. So once you've gotten him into the car and there is no escape for him, you drive over to the next county, or rather the next state, you know where we keep our vacation house, the one Roci and his family isn't allowed to go to because of reasons?

"Anyways, take him there and he'll probably be awake by then, but don't worry, freaking out is normal, that's where the restraints come in. He won't hurt himself, or you as an added bonus. So once you have him cornered, talk to him, make sure he knows that there's no escape. I suspect he'll be a bit mad at the binding, and on further thought you might want to gag him too, the things he will say will not be pretty once he starts struggling. After that things will be fine Law, just follow the plan to a T and there's no way the kid could stay mad at you."

"Doffy, you do realize that what you are asking Law to do is kidnapping right? It's against the…" he trailed off and Doflamingo laughed, much to Law's growing displeasure. Why was he still on the phone again?

"Please Roci, nothing is against the _Law,_ except his boyfriend."

"Doffy! You're not helping! Look he isn't even responding anymore. Law! Law, whatever you do, don't listen to him, that is immoral and not the way to resolve things!"

"Roci, my plan is infinitely better than yours and practically guarantees success," the blonde scoffed, "Really what kind of idiot will do what you suggested? Going down to the–"

"Enough, Doflamingo," Law intervened and sighed, "I… _appreciate_ the input and advice, but I will not be incriminating myself over something like kidnapping my own boyfriend to the lake house."

A sigh of relief sounded from the other end as Cora was able to let go of the breath he had been holding. "Oh thank goodness."

"You'll only get incarcerated if you get caught, but fine, forget I said anything. You can't say I didn't try to help you, Law."

Gray eyes rolled upwards as Law pursed his lips. "Right, I'll keep that in mind. I'm heading out now, I'll tell you how it went next time I call, thank you for the advice, Cora-san."

"Not a problem kiddo, just remember what I told you, apologize!"

"I don't see what he needs to apologize for. If you ask me, Law needs to keep that boy in check. Really, no one ignores a member of the Donquixote Family for over a week without–"

"Goodbye Doflamingo!" Law interrupted the man once more and shut off his phone staring at it with a mix of fondness, annoyance, and fatigue. He always felt tired after listening to the two blondes. They were so different to one another in every way that was possible, and even though his uncle was a crazy bird obsessed maniac, Law supposed he cared about him, though he would never admit it out loud.

 _Kidnap Ace..._ the surgeon thought with a light chuckle, _as if that was easily done, not with the kid being a master in every hand to hand combat technique there is to learn._ If it was as easy as that, didn't Doflamingo know Law would have tried that by now?

* * *

"Tell me again why Law isn't with you today?" Sabo spoke up from Ace's side and Ace's smile fell at the mention of the older man.

"I told you already, we've hit a rough patch in our relationship." Ace stated, shifting his eyes away from his brother and biting his tongue. He had been feeling guilty since the first day he'd yelled at the surgeon, but Ace had kept it up for too long now to just give in and forgive the man.

"Right, and remind me again what exactly lead to this 'rough patch'?" his brother prodded, not at all caring to glance at the two participants currently squaring off against each other.

"I told you already it's unspeakable, and I'm not so mad that he did _it,_ I'm more upset that he did it and is so intent on telling me he doesn't know what he did. If he would just apologize, we'd be okay."

"Ace, you know I can't support your decision until I know what he did. Just tell me, what did he _do_?"

Signing, Ace knew there was no other way to appease his brother. It was times like this that he wished Sabo was as simple minded as Luffy, then all Ace would have to do is mention meat and all that attention would be shifted away from him.

"Fine, but you have to promise not to get in the middle of it," Ace warned his brother who gave him a mocking gasp.

"Have some more faith in me Ace, I'm hurt that you would even think that," Sabo started and it was only until he saw that Ace would remain silent if he kept going that his eyes softened. "Fine, fine I promise to stay out of your's and Trafalgar's situation."

Ace regarded him with one more skeptical look before resigning and leaning into Sabo's ear, whispering his reason.

"That's it?" Sabo asked his eyes searching Ace's for the humor that he was sure to come with the information he'd just received. "You're not kidding, are you? Ace, you're being stupid."

The freckled man scoffed and glowered at Sabo who only rolled his eyes at the response. "Ace, this is ridiculous, you _do_ realize you're jeopardizing the best relationship you yourself said you've ever had over a single–"

"We don't repeat the action Sabo! That was part of the deal," Ace interrupted his older brother and crossed his arms across his chest. "Besides, I told you, I'm more upset that he didn't apologize for his dark deed than anything else, I would've forgiven him if he'd just apologized, but he didn't."

Sabo blinked at Ace for a few minutes before he scowled, "Portgas D. Ace, you go back to that apartment and patch things up with Law right now."

Ace couldn't believe what he was hearing, shock was quick to turn into a defensive glare as he further tightened his arms around himself. "I don't want to, and you can't make me."

"Oh I can't, can't I?" Sabo asked with raised eyebrows as he smiled sweetly to his brother, a smile that made an icy chill run up the course of the raven's spine. That smile may look sweet, but Ace knew it was the biggest cause of trouble in his youth, nothing good could come out of that. Ace's resolve died a little in that moment when he met his brother's gaze with his own, but he would not back down, he would not be beaten in this stare down, he will not give in to Sabo's dark eyes. Ace will not be beaten, his resolve will not be swayed he will stand up to Sabo and say, "OKAY! Okay, fine I'll go make up with Law."

Fuck, he caved into _the look_ again.

Ace grumbled his entire walk home, blaming his older brother for killing his resolve then and there. Really, no one should have that much power behind their eyes, it was inhuman and at times very unsettling.

Where would Ace even start with Law? _'Hey I'm sorry I've been a colossal dick this whole week over–'_

Ace's train of thought was derailed as he collided with someone else. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where–"

"Ace-ya?" Ace's head snapped up and a smile threatened to break through his poker face. "Law, what are you doing out? I thought, you know…" he trailed off unsure of how to say, _I thought you thought I'd be at work._

"I was actually on my way on picking you up from _work"_ the surgeon said, and Ace flinched. _Busted._ He opened his mouth to apologize, but Law was already walking away from him. _Great now he's mad too._ Ace thought sullenly and followed after Law.

The moment they entered their apartment Ace raised his head. "Law–"

A tattooed hand was raised to stop him. "Ace-ya, I'm tired of this fighting and watching you sulk around the house. I–" the surgeon paused, and Ace felt his eyes widen. This was not going well, not at all. What exactly was Law saying here? Gulping his building anxiety away, he focused once more on Law who by then seemed to find the right words. "I didn't know what to do anymore, I had tried talking to you and when that didn't work I figured I would let you calm down and eventually tell me what I did wrong. But after six days... you still refuse to talk to me."

Ace frowned, what exactly was Law trying to get at? Ace was ready to talk, he was ready to forgive and forget but his lips wouldn't move–they refused to let his voice be heard.

"So I called Cora-san and he offered me some advice." the surgeon admitted, his cheeks gaining a soft pink tint as he pulled out a box that Ace hadn't noticed him carrying after he bumped into him. "Cora-san says that whenever he and Bellemere-ya get in an altercation he buys her flowers. I uh, I remembered how you once mentioned that you preferred white hibiscus over the red ones, so I..." he trailed off and opened the small white box he was holding, revealing a single white flower within, a delicate stem curving slightly behind it.

"I really am sorry Ace-ya, for anything that I might have done to you, will you forgive me?" his gray eyes asked the same question, and Ace couldn't look away.

"I promise the incident won't repeat itself, but I need to know that you forgive me. I want to know that you are no longer upset with me. And over all, I want to see you smile again, Ace-ya. I want that smile to be directed at _me_ ," the surgeon whispered softly, his nimble fingers reaching into the small box and plucking out the flower, offering it over to the silent man before him.

Ace was at an uncharacteristic loss of words, how was he supposed to respond to this!

"Ace-ya?" Uncertainty began to consume the gray eyes before him, but before they could be completely cast down, Ace wrapped his arms around Law, startling the man if his rigid posture was anything to go by.

"I'm sorry Law, I never meant for it to go this far, I just.. I just wanted an apology."

"Does this mean you accept my apology?" Law asked, his voice hopeful and there was no possible way Ace could deny him forgiveness now. How could he not do so when the man had kneeled before him with an offered hibiscus in his hand?

Pulling away, Ace dismissed the heat that was pooling in his cheeks, his mouth pulled up in the widest smile he ever remembers giving a single person. "Of course, but only if you accept my apology, I'm sorry for being mad at you."

Law chuckled softly, his eyes warm and caring once more, gone were all the traces of uncertainty and sorrow. "But of course, I forgave you from day one, Ace-ya. I love you too much to be mad at you for too long," the surgeon whispered as his hand reached out and gently tucked the stem of the white flower behind his ear.

Ace's blush returned brighter than before, coloring his cheeks a bright red that made the surgeon chuckle lowly. Everything was right with the world. They were no longer fighting and Ace was no longer upset over the small incident of the week prior.

"Ace-ya?" the surgeon mused after a second of silence. "What exactly did I do wrong?"

"Oh that, " Ace blushed again, though this time for a different reason. "Your ass ate my last Taco Bell taco. You know, _the last one_ that clearly belonged to me."

"Ace-ya…" the surgeon's face darkened. "You know I _detest_ those things. Why on earth would you even _think_ that I ate your fucking taco!"

"Well who else could it have been?"

"That pest of a brother you refuse to not feed!" Law was mad now, Ace knew it and they'd just made up too. Exasperated and completely done, the surgeon pushed himself off the floor and away from Ace, shuffling away and out of the living room, leaving Ace in silence, but not before he heard, "I should have listened to Doffy's advice."

* * *

 **Hey so let me know what you think, any thoughts, comments, rants. Does anyone else ship Ace and Law I need to know I'm not entirely (mostly) alone on this ship XD.**

 **Anyway this crack was brought to you by some chats I had with Emy, go thank for it, and check out her super amazing stuff trust me you'll love it! Thanks for reading!**


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